Woman hit on the head by starfish falling out of the sky

A woman was left flabbergasted after a living starfish fell out of the sky and landed on her head. Artist, Julie Anne Gilburt, 39, had just popped out of her studio in Brighton when she was hit by something “squidgy”. She thought someone had thrown a ball at her head, then looked at her feet and saw that it was a bright orange starfish that was still alive. She believes the echinoderm was either dropped by a seagull or whipped into the air by Britain’s recent stormy weather.

Julie Anne, who has lived in Brighton all her life, said: “I had just walked out of the studio because I was planning to use spray paint, which can’t be used in doors. I felt something squidgy hit my head. I was a bit stunned at first and your mind assumes that it is something trivial like a ball. But I looked at the ground and saw a bright orange starfish. I could not believe it. I was so shocked. I mean what are the chances of that happening?


Photo from SWNS.

“My first reaction was that it was raining starfish. We thought it might be the stormy weather but then we realised the most obvious explanation is that it was dropped by a seagull. All my friends said it was a sign but I am not superstitious.” Julie was hit by the starfish outside Jag Gallery on seafront road Madeira Drive, in Brighton. The spectacle also was spotted by fellow artist Sonia Canals, 45, who works at the gallery alongside Julie.

Sonia said: “It has got to be one of the most bizarre and hilarious things I have ever seen. It just dropped out of the sky. Our immediate reaction was to look up to see where it had come from but there was nothing there. We think it must have been dropped by a seagull but you can’t know for certain. It was still alive at the time so I put it back into the water. It will be a miracle if it survived."